A Letter to Celestia
by Draglord2505
Summary: A brony writes a letter to Princess Celestia.


Dear Princess Celestia,

As you are likely aware, the lives of your faithful student and her friends are regularly broadcast for the viewing pleasure of hundreds, perhaps thousands of humans in our universe, and a group of these fans have taken to calling themselves "bronies". When I joined the brony fandom in mid-2011, it wasn't just because I liked the television show, though I did; part of me believed that this fandom would be different than the other fandoms I was in at the time. However, recently I've come to realize how fractured the fanbase seems to have become. Admittedly, I may be over-reacting a bit, but I still feel that this needs to be said.

For a fandom of what here is a television show about the Magic of Friendship, there sure seems to be a lot of hatred. Every time I hear about an internet death-threat directed at someone from a brony, I feel like crying a little inside; the feeling gets worse when said threats are leveled at other bronies, and even worse when they're leveled at the very production staff of the show they profess themselves to be a fan of. A few days ago a moderator for Equestria Daily, one of the largest fansites for bronies, was driven from the fandom due to the massive amounts of negativity he had to sit through on a daily basis, some of which was directed at him personally due to being an editor for a "tumblr" blog which portrayed you as a chronic molester (can you imagine?). This isn't even getting into the seemingly massive amounts of lashing out between bronies over things like Twilight Sparkle's new status as a princess, or that one time she traveled to that other universe.

I still believe that we as a community can rise above these issues. First and foremost, we need to keep in mind that behind _every_ username on the internet worth replying to is another human being, with their own feelings and opinions about things. It's okay that these feelings and opinions might be different or perhaps even contrary to your own; discourse breeds discussion, after all, and discussion is the birth place of new ideas. We must also remember that words are one of the most powerful tools that we possess, and are ours to use responsibly. Regardless of that one adage, it is sometimes easier to hurt with one's words than to break bones with sticks and/or stones.

Secondly, it is also okay to passionately dislike something. But we need to channel our anger over offending content into more positive directions than just lashing out blindly at its creator; more often than not that can cause more suffering than the offending thing caused in the first place, especially when it's just text on the internet. Instead, why not take a step back, breathe a few times and think about what we are about to say and then calmly and rationally explain why we think the thing is offensive and ask politely for the creator to change it or stop. Or, perhaps create counter-content; imagine if, instead of attempting to censor a random blog on the internet, someone wrote a fan-fiction or fan-comic about somepony starting a resistance movement against the tyrannical molester? Or about Trixie's scheming to steal Twilight's alicorn powers for herself (these all occur in alternate universes of course)? People may even end up liking it more than the stuff it's against in the first place and want to see more of it. Finally, if all else fails, it's the internet; the back button in most browsers exists for a reason. One never has to view the offending content ever again if he or she doesn't want to.

In short, we as a fanbase should strive to remember to treat each other with respect and dignity; behind every username is another person. Every idea deserves to exist; if you don't like an idea, it is possible to explain why you don't like it without insulting the person who thought of it, or attempting to censor it. It may sound very cliché, but we should practice more love and tolerance towards other humans and ideas, and maybe make our world a better place through our example. Okay, I'll admit that last one's a bit of a pipe dream, but I'd like to believe that it's possible, maybe.

One of your (hopefully many) faithful students,

Draglord2505

P.S. Say "hi" to the other princesses for me.

* * *

Recently, I've been feeling down because of Calpain's departure from Equestria Daily, so I figured I'd write a letter to Princess Celestia about it as a form of self-therapy. Later, I decided that some might want to read my ramblings to the princess, so I'd post it here.

Note: I didn't really do any research into the events mentioned in the letter; all I went on was what Calpain said in that Round-up post and some vague recollections on what was happening when Equestria Girls was announced, but before it came out. Also, My Little Pony is owned by Hasbro.


End file.
